The Last Day of the Holidays
by Elven Victory
Summary: This story is focused on Severus Snape in his home during the last day of the summer holidays - the summer before Harry’s sixth year. Complete


The Last Day of the Holidays  
  
Summary: This story is focused on Severus Snape in his home during the last day of the summer holidays - the summer before Harry's sixth year. * Complete *  
  
Pairings: None.  
  
Warnings: None.  
  
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize in this story belongs to J.K.Rowling. The plot is mine, though.  
  
************  
  
Summer morning sunlight streamed through the parting in the curtains, illuminating the quaint furniture in the room, and a man's sallow-skinned face. Severus Snape stumbled out of bed groggily, while scratching his head. Two half-closed eyes turned to some ruffled dark red sheets, to stare at a shorthaired black cat curled up asleep.  
  
The owner, his black eyes still half closed, stumbled towards where the cat lay. He flung his arm around in midair as though trying to scare something off.  
  
"Jasper, get out. Off, go." The dark haired man said groggily.  
  
The cat opened his large, amber eyes, yawned, looked straight at its master, and with a small 'meow', jumped off the bed. Severus Snape rubbed his eyes, and looked around at his surroundings. The room was quiet and still, like always. There was a small, wooden desk under the window, and a wardrobe, made out of pine, stood next to it. A chest of drawers was placed in the corner of the room, out of the way, and a clock hung gracefully on the white-coloured wall.  
  
He walked over to the window and drew back the curtains to inspect the landscape. Fields surrounded the small, wooden cottage, and a forest was clearly visible in the distance. The man turned away from the window, put on his black dressing gown, and, without making his bed, walked swiftly out of the door and down the two stone steps into a short hallway. He entered the small, country kitchen.  
  
Four wooden chairs stood around a large table. There was a stone fireplace built into the wall, and cauldrons were stacked untidily under the sink. Severus opened the yellow curtains, and walked over to the fireplace to boil the silver kettle that was being held above some black logs. He turned around to face the table, his eyes not quite registering what he saw.  
  
"Oh, Jasper, hello," he said, turning again to face the fireplace. He stopped abruptly and turned, again, towards the table,  
  
"JASPER! How many times do I have to tell you not to sleep on the table?" he cried, hurrying over to pick up the black cat.  
  
The kettle began to whistle loudly, and Severus put his pet down on the floor to tend to it. He made himself some tea and sat down, thinking.  
  
"I wonder if the Order of the Phoenix will need me at all this summer," He said aloud, "after all, it's already a month into the holidays."  
  
Jasper came over to him and jumped on his master's lap. Snape glared at it, but even though he detested that cat, it was his only friend.  
  
"I'll let you stay, even though you are the most insufferable animal I have ever laid eyes on." He said, as he thought about the time when Jasper first came into his care.  
  
(Severus Snape's POV)  
  
Eight years ago, on a warm summer's afternoon, when my master was supposedly gone for good, I was walking home from the village about a mile away. It had rained the previous night, and so everything was still damp. There was a muddy path, which went uphill through trees, and as I was walking along there on this particular day, I heard a high-pitched, quiet meow. Of course, knowing me, I ignored it, thinking it was just my imagination. But then I heard it again, and there was no doubt that a cat was hidden somewhere. I immediately set off to investigate. I must have looked in a thousand places. Behind trees, in tree hollows, holes in the ground, etc, but I couldn't find that cat anywhere.  
  
Just as I was about to leave it, I saw something black hidden in the grass. I bent down to pick it up, and immediately knew it was the cat I was searching for. But I was wrong when I thought it was a cat, as it turned out to be a jet black kitten, no bigger the palm of my hand. Its eyes were closed, but it was meowing helplessly and trying to stand up.  
  
"You're too small for that." I remember saying. Then, it crawled up to my index finger, and bit the tip of it. It didn't bite very hard, but it was the fact that such a small animal could have the nerve to bite me, Severus Snape.  
  
"How dare you!" I hissed. The kitten looked at me, its eyes half open, and meowed. I could have sworn it grinned. I pitied it.  
  
"Well, no one lives for miles around, and it doesn't look as though you have anyone to take care of you. Fine, I'll take you back to my home and give you something to eat, but that's it. You're going straight back out after that." I said, as though the animal I was addressing was a real human.  
  
No, I didn't want any animals running around my home, thank you very much. Anything that left mice in my slippers or treaded mud all over the carpets didn't appeal to me very much.  
  
I took it home, fed it out of an eyedropper, and went to put it back outside. But the kitten clung to me, and then I knew that I would have another occupant in my home. Not just another occupant - a friend for life.  
  
(Back to present)  
  
Severus Snape pushed Jasper off his lap and went to stand. He secretly enjoyed recalling that memory when he was alone. He took his tea into the next room, whose door was opposite the fireplace. It was his living room, his karma, his haven. It was where he had once played with his four year old son, while his wife laughed merrily. It was where he had drunk with his friends - and enemies. It was where he had heard the news that his only family was dead. It was where he used to sit, hours on end, staring into a blank space, hoping that death would come for him.soon. For it was true that he used to have a family. His son.his heir, meant more to him than all the gold in the world. He would have sacrificed himself for that boy.  
  
It's a pity how things turn out.  
  
------------  
  
Severus peddled down the road on his black bicycle, breathing in the morning air. He was going to the village to get some bread, and it was nice to get away from Jasper, in his opinion. He had packed most of his belongings, and he was thinking of where he would be in a few hours time - Hogwarts.  
  
But still, the sun, which had only risen a couple of hours ago, annoyed the man. He peddled faster.  
  
"Good morning!" called a passer-by.  
  
The teacher stopped his bicycle and looked at the man who was grinning wildly and waving at him.  
  
"What?" Snape spat harshly.  
  
"Beautiful day, isn't it? Going to the village, I see? Ah, I've just been from there." He called.  
  
"I don't think where I'm going is any business of yours."  
  
"Well, it's nice to share these things, isn't it? Especially on a day like this! How would you like to go golfing with me this afternoon?" The man asked loudly.  
  
"How would you like to go to the grave?" Severus muttered under his breath, getting back onto the bicycle.  
  
He peddled down the lane again, angry with the man who had spoken to him - The nerve of some people!  
  
'Well, I'm glad some people don't have a single problem in the world.' he thought to himself.  
  
Then, he almost crashed into a tree when he looked down at the wicker basket, which was attached to the front of his bicycle.  
  
"Jasper!" he cried, even though he had been expecting it.  
  
His black cat had just sat up in the basket, yawing. It looked straight up at its master and meowed.  
  
"You filthy rotting feline. I told you to stay at home, did I not? Oh no, don't think I don't know. You climbed into my basket before I left and stayed there! I don't know why I even took you in, worthless cat."  
  
Jasper meowed again and looked up at Snape sadly, who had a severe expression on his face.  
  
"No, don't give me that look. I am not going to give in. I should take you straight back home, but.oh no.that dratted woman will be coming over to take care of you." Jasper shot him a look, as though questioning Snape. " Yes, yes.I mean Portia. She'll be here later."  
  
Portia was Snape's mother, and he personally thought she was a bit mad. He didn't like her at all, but no one else would offer to take care of Jasper.  
  
He continued to ride, and, eventually, after arguing with himself about whether to take Jasper home or not, Severus rode into the village on his bicycle.  
  
It wasn't a very busy village. Only nine buildings altogether, which stood opposite each other on the street, could be seen (the bakery, butcher, newsagent's, sweetshop, the pub, and four houses).  
  
Snape chained his bicycle up and ,with Jasper still in the basket, walked through the door into the baker's.  
  
"Good day to you, sir!" The baker said happily, rubbing his hands together.  
  
"Good day to you, Mr Salisbury."  
  
"What can I do for you today? We've got gingerbread men, fruit cakes, choco- "  
  
"I would just like some bread today, Mr Salisbury. A pound loaf, if you will."  
  
The baker looked slightly disappointed and went over to a large basket of bread. He pulled out a small loaf, put it into a paper bag and handed it to the Potions teacher.  
  
"That will be seventy-five pence, please." He said quickly.  
  
Severus nodded swiftly and placed one of his bony hands into one of his trouser pockets to retrieve some change. After searching, he pulled out a ten-pound note and gave it to Mr Salisbury.  
  
"I'm afraid I haven't got any change.Will that do?" he asked, trying to sound formal.  
  
The baker nodded, pulled out some money from the till and gave it to Snape.  
  
"There's your nine pound twenty-five change. Thank you very much, and please come again."  
  
The greasy haired man walked out of the store with the bread, mounted his bicycle, and, ignoring Jasper's loud meows, put the loaf into the basket. Then, he began to ride home.  
  
---------  
  
Severus leaned his bicycle against the wall of his house, picked Jasper and the loaf up out of the basket and headed towards the front door, where he pulled out a small key and put it into the lock.  
  
"Right, Jasper, I don't want you to be disobedient when mother arrives. If you are, I will take you to Hogwarts with me and keep you shut up in my office. Do you understand?" he asked, as the door opened and they walked into the hall.  
  
The cat meowed.  
  
Snape sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and began grooming his cat. At least then Portia wouldn't complain about his fur being untidy, again. Then, his owner began talking to the cat.  
  
"I know you bring mice home and put them into my slippers, I know that you try and scratch me if you're in a bad mood, and I know that I shouldn't have any animals in this house at all, but even though I hate to say it, I will miss you. Having nothing to trip on when I get up in the mornings will be a change. Well, apart from that Potter brat." He muttered darkly to himself, as he sustained to groom his pet.  
  
Jasper looked up at him with his wide, amber eyes.  
  
"I know, you clumsy, ill-bred feline. I know you'll miss me much more than I will you, but we must go our separate ways like we do every year." He continued, stroking the silky black fur.  
  
Then, he pushed the cat off his lap, went over to the kitchen unit and washed his hands. Then, he began slicing the bread he had bought in the village.  
  
Just as he was about to butter the bread, someone knocked on the door, and he sighed loudly.  
  
"She's five minutes early." He said to himself.  
  
"Come on, Sevvie boy! Open the door!" someone called.  
  
Jasper hissed at the voice.  
  
"No, Jasper. She'll be looking after you for the rest of the year. You have to get used to her." Severus whispered to his cat, afraid that his mother might hear.  
  
He walked out of the room and to the front door, where someone was pounding on it.  
  
"Come on, open up, my boy! Sevvie, mummy is here to take good care of you."  
  
A very annoyed Severus opened the door to find his fifty-six year old mother standing there with a huge black suitcase, smiling a one-toothed grin. Like always, she had a straw hat, wore blue dungarees, and had some straw in her mouth that she chewed on. She was a very well built woman, but her face and hands were thin and wrinkled.  
  
"My old Sevvie boy. How 'ya doin'? I 'avent heard from you in such a while. Old mumsie got 'erself worried right up." His mother said in her usual croaky voice, as she wrapped her thick arms around her son.  
  
"It's so nice to see you, mother." Severus said sarcastically, noting the striking resemblance between his mother and a Boa Constrictor just about to eat.  
  
"So, need someone to clean your mat, do ya, sonny?" she asked, ignoring her son's strange behaviour.  
  
"No, why would I want someone to clean my mat when I can do it myself?"  
  
"Well, 'tis what you said in that letter you wrote me."  
  
"No, I need you to care of my cat, not clean my mat."  
  
"Eh, must 'ave been old Ned's readin'. You know what your Father's like - can't read, write or do anythin' else. Don't even know why I married 'im. Gone of 'im completely since 'e blew the 'ouse up."  
  
"Yes, mother." Severus said irritably, as they both walked into the house.  
  
"Why do ya need me to take care of that filthy cat again? I reckon you should just drown 'im - it would do us all a big favour. Or better still, why didn't ya drown 'im when 'e was just a kitten like I told ya to? Always listen to ya mother, sonny." His mother, whose name was Portia, explained.  
  
They walked down the hall, and Portia knocked over a small clock on a tiny table with her huge suitcase. It fell on the floor and shattered.  
  
"Should be more careful 'bout where you put these things. Don't expect me to buy you a noo one."  
  
"Mother, the Headmaster of the school where I teach gave that clock to me when I was offered the job. Do you know how much that was worth?" Severus asked through gritted teeth.  
  
Portia looked at her son, surprised.  
  
"Well, I don't really care 'ow much it costed, ya know?" she said, as they made their way into the kitchen.  
  
Portia immediately saw the fresh bread on the unit and walked over to it.  
  
"Heh, thanks, old sonny. Old mumsie got 'erself real 'ungry." She said, as she swooped up a slice of bread and put it into her mouth whole.  
  
"Mother, please, that bread wasn't for-" but Snape's sentence was cut off as his mother took some bread and threw it into the cauldron above the fireplace.  
  
She lit the wood under the cauldron, and after a few seconds, smoke began billowing from the pot.  
  
"There, old sonny, some nice toasted bread for your old mumsie." Portia said simply, ignoring the high flames issuing from the bread.  
  
"Mother, it's on fire!" Snape cried.  
  
"Oh dear. Well, not to worry, your old mumsie has somethin' to put the flames out." His mother replied, as she took Severus's robe off the chair closest to her.  
  
"Mother, not my clothes!"  
  
"You want your old mother to put the fire out, don't ya?"  
  
She let go of the robes, and Snape filled a small cauldron with water. Then, he threw it at the flames. They extinguished themselves immediately, but the man had a look of disgust and anger on his face.  
  
Making sure his mother wasn't going to do anything else that could cost him his life, Severus led Portia into his own bedroom. She looked around.  
  
Jasper, who had taken refuge in his master's room, gave a loud hiss when Portia entered and jumped off the bed, his fur standing on end.  
  
"So, old sonny of mine, where's it I sleep?" Snape's mother asked her angry son, ignoring the cat.  
  
"Well, not in here, mother. I would prefer it if you slept on the sofa, really."  
  
"Not me, old son. I brought you up real good, and I do deserve better than that. Where's the four poster bed?"  
  
"Four poster? Mother, this is a cottage, and I could never fit something that size in here. That's my bed, there." Severus replied, pointing to his small, quaint bed with the patchwork quilt, which his wife had knitted for him as an anniversary present.  
  
"Rubbish!" Portia exclaimed, waving her arm around in midair. "Our old dogs sleep in somethin' that size!"  
  
"Well, I happen to like my home." Severus answered, burning with anger.  
  
His mother snorted and put her suitcase on the bed. She instantly began throwing things out of it onto the tidy floor.  
  
"Mother, must you make my home so untidy?" her son asked quickly.  
  
"Makin' meself at 'ome, old son. Nothin' wrong with that, eh?" Portia replied. "Now, where's this old cat I'm s'posed to be drown- I mean, lookin' after?"  
  
"Well, he will have to get used to you before he starts coming into the house. At the moment, he's nervous, so he won't come."  
  
"Eh! What's the use of that, then? I'll drown 'im if I were you, sonny. What's 'is name?"  
  
"Jasper." Severus replied. His fists were clenched in his robe pocket, and he was starting to feel his left forearm tingle. "Don't even think about drowning him, mother."  
  
"Gettin' a soft-spot for 'im, are you, sonny?" Portia asked, as she threw the last of her clothes onto the floor.  
  
"No, mother. I don't want you to drown him because you should be trusted in my home, and if I come back to find Jasper's dead -"  
  
"Eh! Stop ya panickin', old sonny." His mother said, as she threw the empty suitcase onto the floor.  
  
The clock on the wall showed that it was five minutes to three in the day.  
  
"I better go, mother. Remember, if you hurt Jasper, I'll -" Severus looked down to find his mother asleep in bed with a pair of black eyeshades on. She was snoring loudly. "You lazy old bag." He finished, with a wince as the pain in his arm began to burn.  
  
He bent down and pulled Jasper out from under the bed. He began meowing softly.  
  
"Goodbye, Jasper. I'll be back next June." Severus said sadly, as he got back up.  
  
Gathering his trunk and cauldrons, his cloaks and potions, and with one more mere glance at his mother and cat, Severus apparated to Hogsmeade to drop all of his stuff off - before rolling his left sleeve up and touching the now black mark, which would hopefully send him to where Voldemort was waiting. He was hoping that his mother wasn't going to do anything to the house and the dark lord wouldn't be too angry at him being late.he would miss Jasper after a while of teaching, but it wasn't the end of the world. He would be back at his own home in nine months time - that is, if he stuck by his word.  
  
************  
  
Author's Note: Yes, as you may have noticed, I am not going to continue with this story. I have decided to leave it alone now so I can continue with my other stories. It isn't really how I portray Snape, but it is rather interesting, is it not?  
  
lily evans: I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I don't personally think the story is that good. Thank you for your review, and I am glad someone thinks differently to me.  
  
Mr. S: Thank you for your review, and I am glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I have finished writing the story now.  
  
,: I am glad you think it's sweet, but I can't continue to write this story, sadly. Thank you for your review.  
  
Kitala: It is sad, is it not? But it shouldn't be now I've added more. Thank you for your review.  
  
Rainbow Shoelace: No, I didn't think Snape was a cat person, either : -) It was my sister who inspired me to write this story, oddly enough. Thanks for your review.  
  
Rachael ^_^: Rachel! My good friend, thank you very much for your review! It means a lot to me : ). 


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